This year, the Greater Wilmington Business Journal’s Health Care Heroes Awards will be held Nov. 12 at the University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Burney Center.
During the event, the healthcare providers, innovators and volunteers you’ll read about on the following pages take the spotlight.
Finalists for this year’s awards will be honored at the awards event. Winners will be announced, and a special lifetime achievement honor will be bestowed.
They are this year’s Health Care Heroes, nominated by patients, peers, co-workers and families.
The nominations for this year’s award finalists highlighted heroic moments, from small but important moments to community-changing deeds. Included in this year’s awards special section are the finalists in eight categories: Community Achievement, Health Care Executive, Innovation in Health Care, PA/NP, Nurse, Physician, Volunteer and the Unsung Hero category, recognizing anyone who works in health care but not necessarily fitting the other traditional award descriptions.
A panel of judges focused on some fundamental questions when considering the nominees: Do they go above and beyond in their daily work? Have they contributed an idea or formed an organization that impacts the community? Are they heroic – whether in big, life-saving ways or quiet, everyday ways?
In many cases, the standouts were clear. In others, the choices were tough.
In this section and online, you can read more about the healthcare providers, administrators and community volunteers in their nominators’ own words.
Also on Nov. 12, Margaret Weller-Stargell, president and CEO of Wilmington-based Coastal Horizons, will be honored as the recipient of this year’s Lifetime Achievement award.
The Business Journal has put on the Health Care Heroes Awards program since 2013 to honor the people and organizations making an impact on the quality of healthcare in the region.
Congratulations to all the finalists and winners of this year’s Health Care Heroes Awards.
INFO: WilmingtonHCHeroes.com
- Cece Nunn
Managing Editor
Greater Wilmington Business Journal
[email protected]
ABOUT THE JUDGING
Each year, the Business Journal opens the nomination process to the community for the Health Care Heroes Awards.
Our outside judging panel combs through the nominations and applications to pick the finalists and winners in each of the categories as well as the Lifetime Achievement honor.
Judges who know or work with the nominees disclosed any potential conflicts. In the cases in which judges were nominated in a category, they were recused from the deliberation process.
THE JUDGES
LYNDA BARROW – Elderhaus PACE
VICTORIA BELLAMY – Novant Health
MISSY COMBS – Lower Cape Fear LifeCare
STEVEN HILL – Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce
JIM HUNDLEY – Retired Physician
ALEXIS HUNTER – UNC Health
VELVA JENKINS – Retired YWCA
CHUCK KAYS – New Hanover-Pender Medical Society
DANIEL THOMPSON – Well Care Health
JACK WATSON – UNCW College of Health and Human Services
MEET THE 2026 HEALTH CARE HEROES FINALISTS
Community Achievement:
- Lauren Haigler, RN, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center
- Leneice Rice, Program Manager, Coastal Community Healthcare Fellowship, CFCC/UNCW
- Child First Team, Coastal Horizons
Health Care Executive:
- David Holmes, Vice President of Business Development, Liberty Health
- Kelsey Mills, Laboratory Business Operations Manager, Wilmington Health
- Laurie Whalin, President, Novant Health Coastal Region
Innovation:
- Alex McDaniel & Lindsey Schroder, Co-Founders/Associate Professors, NSAT Systems/UNCW
- Charity Moorhous, Veterinary Social Worker, Eastern Carolina Veterinary Medical Center
- Chris & Jody Sepich, Co-Founders, Your HCPOA
Lifetime Achievement:
- Margaret Weller-Stargell, President & CEO, Coastal Horizons
Unsung Hero:
- Miles Davidson, Patient Ambassador – Food and Nutrition, Novant Health NHRMC
- Brooke Mansfield, Physical Therapist Assistant, Well Care Health
- Sandra Robinson, Guest Services II, Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center
NP/PA:
- Cameryn Duni, Physician Assistant, Wilmington Health
- Hanes Mintz, Physician Assistant, Novant Health Heart & Vascular Institute
- Clay Quinn, Physician Assistant, Coastal Horizons
Nurse:
- Savannah Cribb, Registered Nurse, Novant Health NHRMC
- Ulrica Stinson, Women’s Health Nurse Lead, MedNorth Health Center
- Michael Wahoff, Registered Nurse, Novant Health NHRMC Emergency Center
Physician:
- Andre Leonard, Physician/Medical Director, Intracoastal Internal Medicine/Cape Fear HealthNet
- Bryan Lotici, Physician, Wilmington Health
- Roc McCarthy, Urologist, Advanced Urology-Center for Robotic Surgery, Columbus Regional Medical Center
Volunteer:
- Mike Hamby, Hospice Veteran Volunteer, Lower Cape Fear LifeCare
- Linda Masters, Volunteer, Novant Health Scotts Hill Medical Center
- Jeffrey Tanaka, Volunteer, Lower Cape Fear LifeCare
